PRC/PLAN Laser and Rail Gun Development Thread

[by78]

That looks a lot more like an Electromagnetic Catapult Launch Test Facility to me.

It could well be a catapult test facility. I reported it as an alleged railgun facility because that's what Chinese forums are reporting. Either way, the Chinese are definitely going full steam ahead with electromagnetic launch technology to hurl stuff.

 

[Quickie]

For both an EMALS and Rail Gun facility, does the test projectile decelerate at the other half of the rails in order to be reused? This could be the reason for the long rails for both type of facilities.

 

[Akkarin]

Unlikely. Projectiles are cheap, modifying the railgun to slow the projectile down is hard and has the potential to mess up your experiment.

 

[Quickie]

Unlikely. Projectiles are cheap, modifying the railgun to slow the projectile down is hard and has the potential to mess up your experiment.

The projectile may be cheap but there is also the problem of building a barrier that can withstand or contain the explosive power of the projectile. Having to rebuild the barrier repeatedly would be expensive too.

If not entirely stopping it, the projectile could be slow down to a manageable level. Don't forget the facilities are not in a remote area and surrounded by other buildings.

 

[latenlazy]

The projectile may be cheap but there is also the problem of building a barrier that can withstand or contain the explosive power of the projectile. Having to rebuild the barrier repeatedly would be expensive too.

If not entirely stopping it, the projectile could be slow down to a manageable level. Don't forget the facilities are not in a remote area and surrounded by other buildings.

Relative to everything else, I imagine a stack of steel plates is relatively cheap.

 

[Hendrik_2000]

The projectile may be cheap but there is also the problem of building a barrier that can withstand or contain the explosive power of the projectile. Having to rebuild the barrier repeatedly would be expensive too.

That is exactly the problem with rail gun beside the tremendous power that it required Here is the USNI article on railgun
Not only do the weapons require a tremendous amount of power

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

— sometimes in short supply on naval vessels — the rails want to pull themselves apart every time the weapon is fired. In addition to the power requirements and the engineering task of keeping the weapon whole, the Navy also has had to develop a system to quickly pulse the energy through the rails to gain the velocity needed to reach supersonic speeds.
And it not going to be deployed anytime soon
The timing of the operational capability — in the 2020 to 2025 timeframe — suggests the Navy may look to include an EM rail gun on its next generation large surface combatant. The follow-on to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and the Ticonderoga-class cruisers is in its earliest phases of development and planned to start construction in 2028,

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

.

 

[Jeff Head]

sometimes in short supply on naval vessels — the rails want to pull themselves apart every time the weapon is fired. In addition to the power requirements and the engineering task of keeping the weapon whole, the Navy also has had to develop a system to quickly pulse the energy through the rails to gain the velocity needed to reach supersonic speeds.

The Navy has solved these issues and will deploy a rail gun at sea for live firing tests next year.

And it not going to be deployed anytime soon

The timing of the operational capability — in the 2020 to 2025 timeframe — suggests the Navy may look to include an EM rail gun on its next generation large surface combatant..

Actually, there is active talk of employing one on the 3rd Zumwalt, the USS Lyndon Johnson, as she is built...meaning she will be commissioned in the 2019 time frame and achieve IOC in 2021.

I expect we will see one on one of the Zumwalts well before 2025...but a lot of that will depend on how the weapon performs at sea next year, and in further tests thereafter.

Time will tell.

 

[Quickie]

Relative to everything else, I imagine a stack of steel plates is relatively cheap.

It's not so much of a problem for Rail Gun, but for EMALS, the carriage certainly has to be safely stopped at the end of the rail to be brought back to the start again.

 

[plawolf]

Relative to everything else, I imagine a stack of steel plates is relatively cheap.

No need for steel plates. A very big mound of soil would do.

 

[SinoSoldier]

No need for steel plates. A very big mound of soil would do.

How would you assess penetration, accuracy, and ballistics in general, then?